September 29, 2025
NEW DELHI – India has strongly rebuked Pakistan’s reply to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s address at the UN General Assembly, accusing Islamabad of implicitly admitting to its “longstanding practice of cross-border terrorism.”
“It was telling that a neighbour who was not named chose to nevertheless respond and admit their longstanding practice of cross-border terrorism,” India said.
India’s response came after Pakistan, exercising its Right to Reply, accused India of maligning its reputation, terming Jaishankar’s remarks a “deliberate attempt to repeat lies”.
What did Jaishankar say at UNGA
Addressing world leaders at the UN General Assembly in New York, EAM Jaishankar asserted that India “exercised its right to defend its citizens against terrorism”, highlighting India’s response to the Pakistan-sponsored terror attack in Pahalgam in April.
“India has confronted this challenge since Independence, having a neighbour that is an epicentre of global terrorism for decades now. Major international terrorist attacks are traced back to that one country, UN’s designated lists of terrorists are replete with its nationals,” he said without naming Pakistan.
Citing the April 22 Pahalgam attack, Jaishankar further stated, “The most recent example of cross-border barbarism was the murder of innocent tourists in Pahalgam in April this year. India exercised its right to defend its people against terrorism and brought its organisers and perpetrators to justice.”